This is a question that I am asking you to answer for yourself. Why, because this is a very personal aspect of someone’s emotional health, especially when they are living with a life-altering diagnosis, such as cancer.

Therefore this post is posing a few thoughts and questions which may help you to understand why this is an significant and important question, which comes from a position of coalface caring.

When a person takes on the role of ‘warrior’, it’s very likely that will ready themselves for ‘battle’, and therefore, do you feel they will be preparing themselves by ensuring they ‘wear’ some protection? In the olden days protection required a suite of armour, plus a sword and of course a mind that needs to be ready for battle. So perhaps they are subconsciously switching on their ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic nervous system?

Plus, when mind and body are preparing to go into battle, do you think it be wanting to do things like sleep, or eat? That’s probably not a good idea. I wonder what words a person’s mind is going to start using to ensure their body is in the best state and ready for battle? I don’t suspect if will be very relaxed?

If these questions seem logical questions to you, it’s important to consider all this now from the point of view of living with a life-altering diagnosis.

Is this a state of mind and body that is going to help the healing process? Perhaps for you it might. Perhaps you have had past experiences whereby you need to be in this state of mind to copy with adversity or trauma. But for others this likely to feel alien.

However, one feeling that I believe everyone will desire, should they be ‘fearful’ or similar is, to be comfortable/comforted, safe and secure.

When mind is placed into the ‘warrior’ state, I wonder how it will impact a person’s desire for comfort? If like me you feel it will increase the desire, then perhaps a question to consider is “What does comfort mean to you?” Or what brings you that feeling of comfort?

To bring this back to living with a life-altering diagnosis. If you are caring for, providing therapy for a person, especially if guiding them in lifestyle changes such as their food or drink, or smoking cessation, it’s important to acknowledge that any change, for many, will introduce a sense of fear. Therefore, any change needs to better understand and also support THEIR need/desire for a sense of comfort, safety and security.

To be continued….